Sayani Gupta is currently celebrating the success of Four More Shots Please! Season 4. During a recent interview, the Jolly LLB 2 actress revealed that her mother initially opposed her decision to pursue
a career in acting.
She also claimed that her mother equated actors with “prostitutes”. Gupta recalled how she fought for her passion and quit a high-paying corporate job to fulfil her Bollywood dreams.
Sayani Gupta’s Mother Threatened To Slit Her Wrist
At age 21, Sayani Gupta had a financially lucrative job. “I made a lot of money because I was a workaholic, but this is not what I saw for myself,” she said. Convinced she wanted to become an actress, Gupta decided to enrol at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.
This was a decision her mother strongly opposed. “My mom said, ‘I am going to slit my wrist if you go,’” Gupta said on Cyrus Says. The 40-year-old added that her mother was astounded that she would quit her corporate job.
“She couldn’t believe it,” Gupta said. “I was bored out of my skull for one and a half years,” she added. Gupta said her mother equated actors with prostitutes and saw the profession as a no-go for her daughter.
“All my life, growing up, she didn’t let me go to theatre rehearsals and locked me in my room, saying actors are prostitutes. That was the idea of actors that she had,” Gupta shared. However, that idea changed after she visited Sayani at FTII.
Sayani’s Mother Acted In FTII Student Films
Sayani listened to her heart and went to FTII. After a while, her mother came for a visit. At the time, a handful of FTII students were looking for older actors on campus for their projects. Sayani recalled that her mom was offered at least five student films. She ended up acting in one.
Having experienced acting first-hand, Sayani’s mother changed her views about the profession. “Maybe if you have to do this for the next 2 years, it’s not so bad, also,” she told Sayani.
Sayani Gupta has worked in movies like Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan, Akshay Kumar’s Jolly LLB 2 and Pagglait.
